California tanks were in the spotlight after month of precipitation and the end of drought in much of the state.
Excess water has filled up several large tankswhich had experienced dangerously low water levels.
Among them is the San Luis Reservoir, which was only at a quarter of its capacity on December 1. The pool is now 98% full.
The reservoir, the fifth largest in California, is located near Los Banos in Merced County and supplies water to the State Water Project.
After a stunning turnaround, it stands at 114% of its historical average level.
The photo on the left shows San Luis Reservoir on March 20, 2022, when its water level was well below half capacity. On the right, the reservoir lost even more water on July 13 as warmer weather dried out the landscape.
The reservoir continued to lose water throughout the summer and fall, eventually settling at around 25% capacity in November and December.
A year earlier, before the meager winter rains, the San Luis Reservoir had fallen to 10% capacity in November 2021.
But this year was a different story.
Atmospheric rivers delivered incredible amounts of rain and snow, bringing snow record in the Sierrathe resurrection of Oroville Lake and dangerous flooding across the state.
The photo on the left is the same as above – San Luis Reservoir on July 13, 2022. In contrast, the image on the right from March 25 shows how the landscape has been transformed from brown to greenand the water level has risen considerably.
Most state tanks are now at or above their historical average levels.
As of March 28, reservoirs across the state were about 73% capacity, above the 30-year average of 69% for March.
All the water came from a remarkable winter of storms.
The result was perhaps the thickest snowpack recorded in more than 70 years, officials said Monday. The snowpack is so deep that it currently holds about 30 million acre-feet of water – more water than Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, according to a Time analysis of snow sensor data.